Novato teachers get reprieve from pink slips

Less than a year ago, teacher Liz Nelson was called into the principal's office at Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Novato, where she was told she might lose her job.

"It was devastating," she said. "This is a job I absolutely love and this is my community and I feel a responsibility to my community."

Nelson was one of about 25 Novato teachers who received layoff notices last year in what has become an annual ritual since the start of the economic downturn. But for the first time in at least six years, the district will not send out layoff notices this year.

"I really feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders," Nelson said.

Teachers must be notified of a possible layoff by March 15 each year, and districts have planned for the worst by issuing numerous so-called "pink slips" based largely on seniority. Many teachers who have received the notices, including Nelson, have ultimately kept their jobs.

Bolstered by an improved state budget and economy and the voluntary retirement of some teachers, Novato Unified School District officials may pass the first balanced budget in several years, but challenges remain.

As Marin's largest school district and one of only three that receives most of its funding from the state, the district has seen its funding decimated in recent years. Even after millions of dollars in cuts, the district was projected in December to spend $3.4 million than it will take in this year.

A deficit of $3.6 million was projected in December for the 2013-14 school year, but that budget gap could shrink to zero in the coming months through a combination of cuts and improved revenue.

Chief among the cuts is a change in the staffing ratio from 20 students per teacher to 22, creating annual savings of about $800,000. The cuts were part of a $2.2 million deficit reduction package recommended by an advisory group that has been meeting since August 2012.

The district will change the staffing ratio by allowing some vacant teaching positions to go unfilled. It has created about 10 vacancies next year by offering retirement incentives of $30,000 to veteran teachers, which will generate additional savings in the coming years as those retirees are replaced at lower salaries.

The district will also seek hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings through operational efficiencies and other non-teacher cuts, and it may receive better-than-expected revenues, Maloney said.

Maloney's office will release new financial projections next month that are expected to paint a more optimistic budget picture, but much uncertainty will remain before Gov. Jerry Brown releases a revised budget proposal in May.

Last month, Brown proposed a new student funding formula for next year that would favor districts with more English learners and poor students, but is not clear how and when the formula will be implemented.

In his January budget, the governor proposed to increase school funding by $2.7 billion, or 7.2 percent, next year, with additional increases in the following years. The budget is good news for Novato, but after losing tens of millions of dollars in recent years officials will likely remain cautious.

"California is a boom and bust economy," Maloney said. "It turns very quickly from when we have a surplus at the state level like we do now to when we go into deficit sending at the state level, which affects school funding."